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Eyes Of A Predator	By : KianaTaversMereel Category: Star Wars (All) > General Views: 3218 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Star Wars movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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AN: The idea for the story is mine, but the setting belongs to Tomoe and her wonderful fics Parttime Job and Full Time Job. Other characters belong to Karen Traviss and George Lucas. Not mine, just borrowing them. I promise to put them back when I'm done. ;)

This particular chapter jumps from the end of Parttime Job over to Full Time Job, so it looks like it's a bit of a companion piece to two fics instead of just one. This one takes place during chapter 4.2, and it looks like there's at least one more later on. So long as Tom'ika keeps giving Mird'ika cameos, I'll keep posting chapters to this.

Our adorable strill doesn't get nearly enough screentime for my tastes, so it gets its fic all its own, and probably not the last, either. ;)

High above the all-too-sterile compound, I allowed my claws to dig carefully into the small crevices in the rain-slickened metal as I climbed to the top of one of the many spires. Oh, I could have flown, but to be honest, I enjoyed a good climb just as much as I liked to fly, especially here. The strangely smooth and rounded buildings were quite the challenge when it came to climbing them, unlike the thick, sturdy trees of my native Mandalore.

Out here, I had plenty of room to fly and to climb whenever my master let me out to run around on my own for the day, despite the pounding rain. Compared to the burning scent of antiseptic that permeated the inside of the compound, the cold, salty sea air was quite refreshing. Not quite the same as the tropical oceans of Mandalore, but there were at least discernable smells out here and interesting ones at that.

There were more than just sea mice out here, especially down on the lower levels that were far away from my master's tower apartment. Even when I was high up in the rain in flight, I could see enormous dark shadows snaking through the turbulent waters that likely belonged to beasts large enough to eat even me. I had once managed to catch a young eel in one of the calmer eddies, but even young, its bite and sting had been more than it was worth to drag it ashore to kill it.

Reaching the top of the spire, I carefully sniffed the air and looked around, ignoring the height I was at and the lightning that flashed constantly. Deciding it was safe, I took flight, thinking about that eel. It had been a good meal, no doubt about it, but after spending several days getting sewn up by my master and fighting a fever from its sting, I had no inclination to try to catch another.

I flew around my master's tower as I had every other home we had lived in, a deeply ingrained habit I had learned to keep as I watched over him. I had done this since I was a kit and my master had been a child, remembering the grand palace he had lived in in his youth that wasn't completely unlike the vastness of the compound. Though he was not home, I knew that my master would be all right without me for a little while, so I took off for a flight around the compound itself.

I could have flown around the entire stilt-city itself if I had wanted, but the beatings doled out by my master's father in his childhood had instilled a great deal of protectiveness towards him in me. My master was grown now and had faced far worse than his own father, but he had cared for me as a kit and I had always watched out for him, regardless of how safe he was. More than a few enemies, as well as his father, had come away from an assault on my master with bite wounds and shattered bones when I had felt him to be threatened.

Most people with any sense knew to back away at the sight of my sharp fangs whenever I bared them. Only the foolishly stupid or fearlessly brave failed to heed such a warning and those were few and far between. Of those that I still had any contact with, they included my master's master and the small, psychotic soldier in the sand-colored armor, the latter of which usually made his point with a knife.

The only other being on this watery world who didn't seem to cower at the sight of sharp fangs and jaws that could crush bone was the aruetii female. She was a tiny woman who smelled unlike both Kaminoans and Mando'ade alike, with a kindness and bravery unlike anything I had ever encountered. She had respected instead of feared me when we first met, calmly allowing me to get her scent before she treated me much like my master did.

My master hadn't been the same since the night she had visited. He was a strong, indomitable man, but ever since her visit, he seemed distant and was frequently lost in thought. There had been few females in his life, far too few for my tastes really, but out of all of them, this one had captured his attentions the most. Distractingly so, though I'm glad to say that he hid it well from the others, as well as the clones he trained during the day.

Deciding that I had flown long enough, I made my way back to my master's tower to see if he had returned and would let me in. The cold rain didn't bother me in the least, but even I could only take being drenched for so long before I needed to get inside and dry off. Perhaps with some luck, my master would have some bantha steak or a saucer of warm milk waiting for me.

As I approached the platform, I realized that there was someone sitting in the middle of it. It was too small to be my master, but since it was very late at night, I couldn't imagine it being any of the others, either. Immediately suspicious, I changed my flight path just enough to make my approach from behind the tower, landing on its roof silently.

Keeping low, I made my way up the sloping roof of the tower and peered down over the top edge to see who it was on my master's platform. To my surprise, I saw that it was not an intruder at all, but the very female I had just been thinking about. I stood there with my claws dug into the crevices of the metal roof, watching her sit there in silence in the icy cold rain, wondering what she was doing here.

I knew she should have been asleep in her own apartment by now, especially with fall-in being just a few hours away. If not for my master being on night watch, I, too, would have been comfortably asleep within the tower. She hadn't been there when I had gone off flying, but I didn't know when she had arrived, either, and unlike me, I knew that humans had far less off a tolerance for the cold.

Knowing that the tower was once again secure, I climbed back down the spire as quickly as I could and landed with a quiet splash on the deckplates of the platform. The female had not stirred or noticed me and I realized that she had been out there for some time, for she was quite cold when I approached. She seemed to be asleep, but as I sniffed her drenched skin, I realized that this was not the case.

She seemed to be in some sort of trance - not awake, but not quite asleep either.

Not liking how cold she was and not knowing when my master would return, I knew I had to do something. My master, as well as his own master, wouldn't be happy if she froze to death from the cold rain out here with no one to protect her. Knowing how kind she had been to myself and to my master as well, I curled myself around her and carefully took her left arm in my jaws, giving a gentle tug to try to wake her.

"Moro..." I didn't know who this "Moro" was, but she seemed to be waking up as I gave her another gentle, insistent tug with my teeth. Her dark eyes slowly cracked open, boring into mine as I let her go, remaining curled around her in hopes of keeping her warm until she decided to go back inside or my master returned home. She looked quite sad and even heartbroken to see me, as if she had been light years away from here, thinking of something- or perhaps even someone- else.

"You aren't her, Mird, you don't need to do that for me." Despite her gentle protest, I remained curled around her as she drank some of the rain that beat down on us. She was far too cold for my liking, but how she was still able to move or even speak coherently was beyond me. I had seen people warmer than her in situations like this that had done much worse. For her to still have her senses indicated to me that she had quite a strong will, one not unlike my stubborn master.

Wanting to comfort her, I pressed my nose into her hand and nuzzled her in an attempt to get her to pet me. She responded slowly, idly scratching my head with neatly-trimmed nails as she tried to completely regain her bearings. Happy to see that she was well enough for those delicious scritches of hers, I nuzzled closer and gave squeals and yips of enjoyment as I encouraged her to scritch a little harder.

"Got a taste for the place, my dear?" Though the female didn't seem surprised to hear my master's voice, I had not heard his approach and my head immediately snapped up to see him standing just a few feet behind her. It looked like his share of the night watch was over with and he had come home to get some rest at long last. Even though I was happy to see him, I didn't move from where I was curled around the female, who was still far too cold for my liking.

"I love the water, Walon...it will be your place again in a moment." She seemed unoffended by my master's comment and brushed it off with a polite response of her own. That my master was using any sort of humor spoke volumes of how well he thought of her as very few could even get him to smile. Even fewer of those were females, be they Mando'ade or companions he had brought home for the night.

Not knowing what to make of the situation between them and noticing that the female had yet to move to head back inside, I licked the rain from her face in an attempt to coax her to at least get up. Usually, females bolted right to their feet with a cry of disgust whenever I did such a thing, but not this one. She seemed no more bothered by my slobber than she did the icy rain that had soaked us both to the bone.

"Mird doesn't like your body temperature." There was a bit of hesitation in my master's voice, as if he, too, was wondering how she could stay awake and moving in such a cold rain. "Neither do I." At least I wasn't the only one who thought she was far too cold to be out here in the rain without a suit of armor to protect her like my master. Since she didn't seem to be listening to my efforts to get her inside, perhaps she would listen to my master instead.

"It's been...refreshing." Finally, she got to her feet with her belt around her neck and her knife back in its usual place. I was too happy to see her move that I missed what she said next to my master as I bounced around her feet to try and get her going inside. She didn't seem to be in any hurry and her body temperature wasn't getting any better as long as she stayed outside in the pouring rain.

As long as she was this cold, I was going to remain curled around her to keep her warm and to haran with any protests she might make. Admittedly now that she was standing, I was curled around only her legs, but as small as she was compared to my master, I stood at nearly hip-level. I would have preferred to be curled around her upper half to try to keep her core warm, but the legs were better than nothing at least.

"...and there's always the night watch." My master quickly guided her to the door, though she didn't yet head inside. Instead, she took a moment to flex her fingers a bit and wring the water from her long hair. I took the opportunity to curl around her again while my master watched patiently, ignoring their conversation as I tried to keep the stubborn female warm until we could get her inside.

My master was far more patient than I was as he stood in the doorway to keep the automatic door open for her. I gave a whimpering whine and pawed at her leg, trying to be careful of her bare feet. To my relief, she made her way into the tower apartment past my master, leaving me to quickly follow them before the automatic door hissed shut on me and left me out in the cold rain without them.

"Moro is an old friend of mine. Not unlike Lord Mirdalan." I bounced after her with my tail wagging eagerly back and forth as I tried to help her warm up now that she was finally inside. Instead, she carefully sidestepped me to avoid stepping on one of my paws, although I hardly would have minded. I had been stepped on and even kicked by soldiers bigger than my master many times before. As light as this tiny female was, I doubted she could have hurt me any more than they had.

My master, who had been content to stand off to the side watching the female, had suddenly approached, making it difficult for me to keep curled around here. As disappointed as I was at that, it didn't really matter since she seemed to warm up quickly enough even without my help. Knowing that I didn't need to keep her warm any longer, I simply sat beside her at her feet, watching as my master reached out and gently tipped her chin up so she would face him.

"Don't let yourself be carried away too far." I tipped my head slightly at this. It was unusual for him to be this kind to anybody but myself, for he had been abused far too much in his life allow himself to show any sort of trust to those who had not earned it first. This female had apparently earned not just his trust, but perhaps his affections as well.

"I won't." The female chuckled softly and I gave a contented rumble as I felt her scritch the folds of skin about my head and neck. I adored my master, but even he couldn't quite get that spot as well as she did. "...not with Mird watching over me." If she was willing to be so kind as to scratch and pat me whenever she saw me, as well as make my master happy in ways he hadn't been in years, I would have watched over her no matter where she had gone.

"Promise me." There was more than just concern in my master's voice. He cared deeply for her in more ways than he could ever care for even me, despite this female belonging to his own master. Perhaps his master in the shiny armor wasn't treating her well and that was why she was so kind to the two of us. I hadn't seen any marks on her or smelled anything to indicate it, but as strong willed as she was, it wouldn't surprise me if she was able to hide it so well.

"I promise." She stopped scritching and I gave a small huff of protest as I watched her give my master a small bow. Not only was she kind to my master and myself, but she was very polite and respectful as well. Only my master's master gave him that sort of courtesy and that was largely professional to begin with anyway. "Goodnight, Walon."

"Good night." I watched her leave as silently as she had come through the tower's lift door, well aware that my master was smiling beneath the helmet. He had never smiled since we had come here, except once or twice in amusement when he caught me chasing sea mice around the apartment or outside. She had made more than just a small impression on him if she made him smile with just a simple "goodnight".
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Eyes Of A Predator